A section from Mehmet Emin Hazret’s book:
“East Turkistan: A Genocide Buried in Silence – Witnesses. Evidence. A World That Turned Its Back.”
V. July 11–15: Numbers Rise, Truth Disguised
July 11: The mayor updated the death toll to 184.
July 13: Three Uyghur youths were shot dead in the middle of the street in Ürümqi.
July 15: Official figures declared 192 dead and 1,721 injured.
In Ghulja, 70 people were arrested.
VI. July–August: Silent Punishments and Mirzat Alim
August 2: Uyghur artist Mirzat Alim disappeared.
August 4: His body was found—one of his eyes had been gouged out.
August 7: Police attacked a funeral attended by 10,000 people; over 100 were arrested.
Hundreds more were arrested in the following days.
Between August 22–25, a secret visit by President Hu Jintao and ensuing heavy censorship revealed the gravity of the events.
VII. September–November: Executions, Settler Morale & Repatriations
September 3: A Han Chinese protest march was not blocked by police.
September 4: The Minister of Public Security visited Han settlers for a “morale boost.”
September 7: Five Uyghurs were sentenced to death.
October 15: Six more Uyghurs received death sentences.
October 23: 19 individuals received sentences including life imprisonment.
October 30: Chinese media announced the execution of 28 people.
November: At least 200 more people were arrested.
December 21: Cambodia deported 22 Uyghurs who had taken refuge in a UN camp, in exchange for a $1.2 billion loan from China.
VIII. The Hippodrome Neighborhood: Exiled from Ürümqi’s Heart
After July 5, one of Ürümqi’s most densely populated Uyghur districts—Hippodrome Neighborhood—was targeted.
Home to 40–50 thousand Uyghurs, it symbolized solidarity and identity.
Following the massacre:
Military units and bulldozers destroyed the area,
Young people were arrested,
Elders and women were forcibly sent back to their hometowns.
But this wasn’t mere relocation—
Each returnee was, in fact, sent into detention.
“It wasn’t just our homes that were demolished.
The Uyghur identity of an entire city was erased.”
— A Uyghur merchant from the Hippodrome Neighborhood
IX. Silent Witnesses, Silent Losses
Thousands of Uyghurs disappeared in custody during this period.
Families received no news for years.
Some returned bodies bore visible signs of torture.
Others—where and how they died—is still unknown.
“If the victims have no graves, mourning is impossible.
But we’ve had a mourning we couldn’t express for years.”
— A Uyghur mother
X. Mirzat Alim: Silenced Voice of Art
Artist Mirzat Alim became the most symbolic loss of this period.
He died in custody, his body showing signs of torture.
His songs were banned.
But his name lived on in his people’s memory—
a voice of resistance, not just a musician.
Today, his name represents not just an artist,
but a permanent cry against the destruction of a culture.
XI. International Silence: Diplomatic Blindness
The world’s response to the events:
The international community remained silent.
China’s economic clout and diplomatic pressure suppressed reactions.
Only a few human rights organizations collected evidence on the ground.
“Even those we called our brothers stayed silent.”
— A teacher from Ürümqi
XII. From Massacre to Camps: Beginning of a New Regime
July 5, 2009 was not just a massacre—
It marked the birth of a mass detention regime.
From this point on:
Internment camps,
Facial recognition systems,
Social credit tracking,
Digital surveillance infrastructure
were built step by step.
The system that became visible in 2017 actually began in 2009.
XIII. Place in Memory: An Open Wound
Ürümqi 2009 means:
At least 1,000 deaths,
Over 10,000 missing,
The exile of 20,000 people.
But even more deeply—
this date lives as a silent scream in the memory of a people.
“There is no future without a past.
July 5 is a blood-stained date etched in the memory of a silenced people.”
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